CMS
Project Watch recently sat down with John Lynn, Denise Johnson and
Katina Napper to get their views on the CMS-HR project status and
how the implementation will benefit campus users. They are all members
of the HR Project Management team, but have different perspectives
on the benefits of CMS. John and Denise, as HR Project Leaders,
give a brief overview of the project's progress. Katina, who has
participated in module work teams and user groups, talks about how
CMS will benefit the campus community and upcoming changes in the
part-time faculty hiring processes. Please take a moment to learn
more about how CMS will benefit the campus community.

John
Lynn

Due to the incredible input received from campus user
groups and from the unbelievable effort of the CMS (HR) team,
we are actually ahead of schedule.

Denise
Johnson

CMS-HR:
Bringing You
Up-to-speed with John Lynn and Denise Johnson

John
Lynn and Denise Johnson discuss the CMS HR status and how
the implementation will benefit campus users.

Tick
tock. Tick tock. That’s the countdown clock the Common Management
System (CMS)-HR team hears as the Human Resources module of
CMS plans to go live on August 18. That’s right, August 18.
“Due to the incredible input received from campus user groups
and from the unbelievable effort of the CMS (HR) team, we
are actually ahead of schedule. Most of the fit
gap sessions have been completed. The team is
currently documenting specifications for various modules”,
said John Lynn, Executive Director of Human Resources. “The
next step for the team is to test the applications with key
administrators (HR and Payroll) as well as pilot
campus departments in preparation for training
and go live.”

How
is the campus able to move the go live date ahead by 3 months?
According to John, “The biggest reason we are ahead of schedule
is that employee groups have provided enough input to help
the CMS (HR) team make implementation decisions. Every member
of the team has worked many productive hours. We can implement
CMS sooner due to our implementation strategy of using ‘pilot’
departments for distributed
functionality such as temp faculty hire/re-appointment and
student workers hire/re-appointment and time entry. Even though
our administrative areas will be using most of the application
for all employees, the campus departments will be introduced
to CMS gradually. Thus, we will have time to work out any
issues before going 100% live” (to the campus departments).

So,
what type of HR information will departments have access to?
In the past, departments haven’t been able to access their
personnel information without having to contact Human Resources.
That will become a thing of the past. One of the greatest
benefits CMS provides is Self
Service: real time online access to individual’s
employment and benefit information. Employees will be able
to change their address and phone number through a secured
portal site. You will also be able to view the benefits you
are currently enrolled in. To change your benefits you will
still need to contact the Human Resources Department. According
to Denise Johnson, Director of Human Resource Operations and
HR Project Lead, “We are planning to roll out more functionality
in the future.”

John
noted that “What is now and what is coming in the near future
will have a more (positive) impact on the campus than any
other project that has ever come to our campus.” He continues,
“Employees have provided significant input on business methods
to make the campus function more effectively and efficiently.”

Denise
adds that “the project is running smoothly…The goal of the
CMS project is to provide efficient, effective, high quality
service to faculty, staff and students.” The CMS goal lies
within the University’s missions where learning is preeminent.

Summed
up best by Denise; “This is only the beginning in our new
CMS journey.”

Katina
Napper

From a broader perspective, streamlined processes allow
you to focus less energy on the processes which gives you
more time to focus on the mission and goals of the University
from your college's perspective.

A
Voice from a FAR

Katina
Napper has been with Cal State Fullerton for four years and
is the Director of Faculty Affairs and Records and a member
of the CMS-HR Project Management team. She currently holds
an MBA and a Master's degree in Information Systems from the
Claremont Colleges. Yes, she has two Master's degrees! Her
latest project is Mother to her adorable 4 month old daughter,
Kasey .

PW:
Do you feel the campus (specifically FAR) has had an opportunity
to be involved with the CMS-HR implementation? How so and
how much involvement?

KN:
I feel that our campus is really lucky in that this is a truly
integrated implementation. When talking to my colleagues on
other campuses, some have stated that they wish they were
more involved in the implementation or that their CMS Project
was mainly driven by one department. That is definitely not
the case here at Fullerton. There are several ways that stakeholders
can provide input and get involved from divisional user groups
to talking to anyone on the project team directly, including
Amir. The communication lines have been open from the beginning
and that's the most important thing. No decisions were made
without a lot of input and involvement from the campus. For
my office in particular, it has been very beneficial that
the Assistant Director of FAR, Robin Graboyes, is a subject
matter expert (SME) on the CMS team concerning
faculty processes. The project benefits from her expertise
and it is very important for her to be involved on that level
because of the work that we do.

PW:
What do you see as the top three benefits of CMS HR implementation
from the perspective of Faculty Affairs and Records?

KN:
From the perspective of my department, I think streamlining
of processes is huge! We always wanted to find the time to
streamline our processes and CMS, like other ERP
systems, forces you to do that because you have to look at
your existing processes to see what needs happen when the
system is implemented. The CMS fit gap sessions have allowed
us to do just that. Through this project, we have also been
able to really see how the work that we do impacts the entire
University. I think we know that, but looking at our processes
in conjunction with other departments on campus really brought
that point home. Having a centralized database will be so
wonderful for accuracy, data security, decreased redundancy,
easier access to data and reports and the list goes on and
on.

PW:
We've heard discussion about CMS and part-time faculty. Does
the CMS implementation offer an opportunity to improve the
business practices and processes for hiring part-time faculty?

KN:
Absolutely! Anybody who is involved with this process will
tell you that it's complicated at times. This is in part due
to the data tracking issues. CMS definitely can offer a lot
to us. CMS will allow this process to be a primarily electronic
flow with paper being used only when necessary instead of
the paper intensive process it is now. In addition, CMS will
provide great relief in the data tracking area. Many of the
data elements that departments track manually now will be
tracked by CMS which is a great plus.

PW:
And it saves some trees?

KN:
Absolutely!

PW:
Does CMS improve business practices from the Faculty member
perspective?

KN:
I think the biggest benefit for faculty would be access to
their information. With CMS and secure access, they would
have access to selected information that they would normally
have to pick up a phone and call someone for, or send an email
request.

PW:
How about the department perspective?

KN:
Not having to track so many data elements manually will be
great for departments, as well as access to information and
reports. The ability to run a report on your own time and
not have to request it from another office will be a huge
plus for all departments and/or colleges who hire part-time
faculty.

PW:
It will be nice to cut out the middle man?

KN:
Yes. Make things as simple as possible.

PW:
How about from the college perspective?

KN:
From a broader perspective, streamlined processes allow you
to focus less energy on the processes which gives you more
time to focus on the mission and goals of the University from
your college's perspective. Access to information gives you
the tools to forecast and plan. A clear picture of where you
are is the first step to getting to where you want to be.
These benefits can also be seen in a department or any unit
in the University.

PW:
Last, but not least, from FAR's perspective?

KN:
All the things I mentioned above!

PW:
Is CMS offering an opportunity to establish standard procedures
for departments and colleges?

KN:
Absolutely. The part-time faculty process is a prime example.
One of the reasons it's challenging is that we all do it differently.
We know that each college and department has different needs
and the goal is to have a standardized process that is flexible
enough to accommodate those different needs. So instead of
having a complicated process where everyone does something
different, we will have a process which everyone will use
and have options at different points in the process to accommodate
their departmental needs.

PW:
Will there be new services and tools due to the CMS implementation?

KN:
Yes! Access to reports will be a great tool. CMS will also
track WTU
accumulation for our Lecturers and departments will not have
to track this manually. As employees, we will also have access
to some of our personal information which I think is very
helpful.

PW:
Overall, do you believe the CMS project will be a success?
And why?

KN:
I think the project will be successful because we, as a campus,
want it to be successful. This is a campus-wide project and
we all need to take ownership. There are a lot of people working
hard and doing great work on this project, there has been
a lot of dialog with the stakeholders, and the campus has
many avenues for input. We are doing all that we can to ensure
the success of this project.